Does bar upsweep seem anatomically incorrect?
My bike came with 9 degree backsweep, 5 degree upsweep bars. You can rotate the bars and reduce the upsweep to 0 but it also reduces the backsweep to about 6.
I wanted to see if big sweep bars would help my old battered wrists so I got a set of Salsa Bend 2 Bars with 17 degrees of backsweep, but 5 degrees of upsweep. You can flip them and have 5 degrees of downsweep. The big backsweep is fantastic but neither upsweep or downsweep is great. The downsweep is fine when seated, but not so good when standing.
It seems that upsweep is pretty common now. I wonder why that is. My hands don't "angle" that way naturally.
For 23 years I used 3 to 5 degree backsweep, 0 upsweep bars with bar ends (similar hand position to big backsweep). In the early 90's I used 560 mm bars, then 580, 600, by 2004 I was using 625 mm (5 degree back) and used those until last year. My bike came with 700 mm bars and I loved the width but there was no way to run bar ends at that width because they would snag everything along the trail
OK, that's a rambley way to ask what other think about upsweep.

My bike came with 9 degree backsweep, 5 degree upsweep bars. You can rotate the bars and reduce the upsweep to 0 but it also reduces the backsweep to about 6.

I wanted to see if big sweep bars would help my old battered wrists so I got a set of Salsa Bend 2 Bars with 17 degrees of backsweep, but 5 degrees of upsweep. You can flip them and have 5 degrees of downsweep. The big backsweep is fantastic but neither upsweep or downsweep is great. The downsweep is fine when seated, but not so good when standing.

It seems that upsweep is pretty common now. I wonder why that is. My hands don't "angle" that way naturally.

For 23 years I used 3 to 5 degree backsweep, 0 upsweep bars with bar ends (similar hand position to big backsweep). In the early 90's I used 560 mm bars, then 580, 600, by 2004 I was using 625 mm (5 degree back) and used those until last year. My bike came with 700 mm bars and I loved the width but there was no way to run bar ends at that width because they would snag everything along the trail

KR, I agree 100% but fashion drives the market and therefore the available products.

Hey, I used bar ends WAAY longer than was fashionably cool! I would still use them but they might be my death on 700 mm bars. Maybe I need to decide if I like the hand position of bar ends, or 700 mm bars better. I think I would like my big backsweep bars if they were 0 rise/drop. I'll keep shopping.

I'm pretty sure all riser bars have upsweep. I like some upsweep myself and rotate my flat bars a touch. I run the Race Face next wide flat bar. 720 wide is awesome. No wider for me though. I think Ritchey makes a bar which sweeps forward then back so you have the wrist angle without decreasing reach. http://ritcheylogic.com/mountain/bars/classic-flat-10d-mountain-bar.html
So many riders are on bars with so little rise these days it's funny. I still get negative comments on my flat bars.

Oldfart, the Salsa Bend 2 Bars I have are the same as the Ritchey 10D (sweep forward then back but Salsa's are 17 degree, Ritchey 10). The backsweep is nice, but the five degree upsweep just didn't feel good even after a few rides so I flipped the bars over. The downsweep feels better but not great. Part of the problem with all of the bends in this design is that any rotation to change one aspect also changes another. Yah, riser bars usually have upsweep, but I've always used flat bars with zero upsweep. Now the trend is that most flat bars have some upsweep. I'm just wondering if there is a real reason for upsweep that I'm missing, or if its just a market trend, or both.

we could get a conduit bender from the electrical supply place and some leftover aluminum conduit to work with. that's maybe $50? i'm sure we could figure out the carbon fabrication pretty quick. then kickstarter it and we're golden. i'm looking to relocate and reinvent myself anyway. i can't help you with the shorts.

Dave Levy, TiCycles could certainly make bars for you with any combo you want. I'll guess he is limited to the bend radiuses he can do, but the amount and locations of those bends would be up to you. I'll bet you have the choice of Cr-Mo or ti tubing and he could make up shims to fit any stem. Wouldn't be cheap but they would be keepers. (And he could easily make up shims to fit these bars to your next bike/stem.)

Skinny, relocate and reinvent! Where are you now and what are you looking for?

Funny update on baggy shorts: I've been wearing tighty blackies since '90. Every year since the mid '90s I try on a few pair of baggies but have never found anything that I liked. I've bought a few pairs over the years that get a few rides and then donated to the local kids cycling club. My wife bought me a pair of "amphibious" shorts from ShopKo this week for casual wear. They are fantastic over a pair of bibs! They are crazy light and cool plus a great fit! I just went and bought two more pairs for only $15 each.

My issue with non-tight shorts is the snag of the seat nose when I go to sit down. I do often pull shorts/swim trunks over my cycling shorts to be more modest and sometimes leave them on for the ride home if the temperature has dropped. Once I"m seated I don't notice them at all except for the extra warmth.

i'm sweating my ass off in florida. i would rather sweat it off out west somewhere. have you looked at enve bars yet? i just saw an article about a wide flatish bar they have for $160. http://enve.com/products/components/sweep-bar-barswp/